Star Control 2 HD Remake Now Available

Star Control 2, the classic PC sci-fi adventure, is now playable in high-definition. The fan remake, dubbed The Ur-Quan Masters HD, can be downloaded for PC or Mac starting today.

The original Star Control 2 was released in 1992. It began after humanity lost a war to the Ur-Quan. Players take on the role of a human commander in control of an advanced alien ship. They must rally Earth's former allies and defeat the Ur-Quan once and for all.

The game allows players to freely explore the galaxy. They engage in diplomacy with alien races, gather resources for upgrades, and try to find a way to beat the Ur-Quan. Occasionally they have to battle enemy ships in real time combat as well. Each species' ship possess different special abilities and attributes.

The remake project began in 2002 after the source code was released by the game's creators, Toys for Bob. The name Ur-Quan Masters was used because the SC name now resides with Atari. The goal of the remake was to make the game playable on modern operating systems. It also added some improvements, including online multiplayer ship battles.

"Ur-Quan Masters HD is a forked project that gives you the same graphics as the original, but now you can also play at four times the resolution," said one of the creators on Reddit. "To do this, I (and a couple others) had to re-make 16,000+ images. It took two years. It also has a few new features (with several enhancements planned)."

You can download Ur-Quan HD for PC and Mac here. Linux and Android versions are also planned.